Natsu's Weird Flames
by reminem
Summary: He was fine for a moment. Then he will act strange all of a sudden. It was a normal case for Natsu Dragneel before but not when he gets awkward and soft. A story of Natsu's condition that is quite out of the ordinary.
1. Chapter 1: Intro

"What do you wanna eat, Happy?"

"I dunno. Maybe a fish? Ooh I like fish."

"You eat that everyday. How about a fire stew?"

"Don't be stupid, Natsu."

"Then how about we go to Lucy's place?"

"Aye! Let's go!"

It was an ordinary afternoon in the land of Magnolia. Natsu and Happy are hovering directly over a familiar scene; a place where they spend at least once a day in. It wasn't luxurious nor upscale but it is where the pink-haired Dragon Slayer felt most soothed and relaxed. There resides a certain Celestial spirit mage, namely, Lucy Heartfilia, who has been the closest person in the dragon slayer's heart.

"Luuuce, are you hooome?!" Natsu called out wearing his huge trademark grin as he and Happy flew in from the window only to find an empty room. They searched everywhere: the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, the lounge, the bathroom, the roof, the bathroom, but still no sign of her anywhere.

"Hmm. I'm sure Lucy would be here. Maybe she's still hanging around the guild. What do you think Happy? ..Happy?"

Natsu was like talking to a brick wall when he asked the cloth-eared cat. The Blue Exceed was out it; rolling over Lucy's bed, intrigued by an octopus plush toy he found. His eyes were gleaming with bliss as he squeezes the doll and mumbles "Mine" over and over.

"Hey! Happy! Snap out of it!"

"Aye!?"

"Quit messing around. I'm worri..I mean, getting hungry so let's just go to the guild."

"Sorry!" the Exceed dropped the doll and grew a pair of white wings. Before they went out the window, Happy stopped for a moment, looked back at the doll. "I'll come back for you later, octopus!" he said while laughing maniacally.

The duo cleared out of Lucy's apartment and headed towards their guild.

* * *

The usual scenario back at the Fairy Tail Guild house could be found when Natsu and Happy arrived. Cana greeted them while chugging down on her drink barrel like it was orange juice as they went in. Elfman's giving Romeo lessons on how to be a man. Gray, like always, was down to his boxers and looking for the shirt and pants he unconsciously threw away while being stalked by a certain Blue-haired Water Mage and the rest were having fun and being the jolly Mages they are. But the Pink-haired salamander noticed something odd. _Where's Lucy?_. He scanned the whole guild but he couldn't catch her scent.

"Hey Natsu! What ya up to?" Gray asked the confused Dragon Slayer. Natsu ignored him and gave him a faint growl knowing that the Ice mage might be up to something. "If you're looking for Lucy, she left hours ago. Saw her talking with Mira about a mission. I thought you were coming with her but I guess she realized she doesn't need an idiot." Gray added, provoking him with a devilish smirk.

"Who you calling an idiot, Popsicle head?"

"You're the only idiot around here, Human candle."

"You looking for a fight, Ice cube?"

"I dunno, Flame fart. Are **you**?"

"Gah! I have no time for this!" The frustrated Dragon Slayer swiftly fired a hard punch that landed on the Ice mage's face and sending him over to Elfman, knocking the Take Over Mage off his chair.

"Hey! I was teaching someone how to be a man here!"

"Sorry Elfman, but I'm kind of in the middle of someth- Hey Natsu! Where do you think you're going?"

"Shaddup. I can't play around right now."

"Man, what's wrong with you today?"

Natsu walked past the Ice Mage and headed straight to the bar. Mirajane was serving the drinks like usual at the bar when suddenly she found a grumpy Dragon Slayer sitting down in front of her. The White-haired Mage almost immediately knew what he wanted as she tried to contain her bright smile.

"Hey Mira, do you know where Lucy went?" he asked with an expression quite bizarre even for him.

"Hello Natsu." The elder Strauss let out a smile and handed a job request form. "This is the job Lucy took. I believe she planned to do it alone though. It's sweet that you're worried about her." She giggled at the flustered Mage.

"W-Whatever. Thanks. Oh, and say hi to Lisanna for me." The dragon slayer nonchalantly stood up and walked away.

"I'll make sure to tell her. Good luck Natsu!"

Everyone stared at the Rose-haired Mage, wondering why he wasn't as pumped as he always were. They also felt the awkwardness he had with everyone yesterday and the day before. It was like he wasn't himself at all, but the guild members just shrugged it off knowing that it is **Natsu** after all. He might just have some minor issues with something again.

* * *

On the way to their destination, Natsu was clearly spacing out. He was bothered by the fact that Lucy went off on her own without saying a word to him. _I know she doesn't **have** to tell me, but we're partners._ With a stressed look on his face all day and the depressing aura he's been giving off, his Exceed companion couldn't stand it much further._  
_

"C'mon lighten up, Natsu! It's not like this is the first time she went off on her own without telling you. I mean, we go to missions without Lucy, too ya know."

"I guess that's true."

"You just miss Lucy, huh?"

"Yeah" he replied without hesitation and followed by a sheepish smile.

"Then why don't you tell her?" Happy said, giving him a questioned look. Natsu turned silent for a few moments, showing a broken down expression. His body quivered at the sudden thought of it.

"I..I can't Happy. You know what's up." The Flying feline was at a loss for words. It seemed he forgot an important detail about his fire-breathing friend.

"Oh..Right. I'm Sorry Natsu."

..Meanwhile..

Outside a small building near Onibus, Lucy is currently preoccupied with her job, handing out flyers to people passing by while wearing quite a revealing costume. The blonde was dressed up as a sexy bunny for a promotional event held by a Magical Cafe. She was sporting a pink mini skirt, sleeveless top that emphasizes on her well-developed parts and accompanied with matching pink bunny gloves, boots, headband and a small puffy white tail.

"Why did I even take this job? This is so embarrassing!" the Celestial spirit Mage whined, handing out more flyers while being ogled by the men passing by.

"Hey miss! You're shift is over. You can take a break now." the manger of the cafe waved his hand as a Gesture for Lucy to come inside.

_Great! I can't take much more of this_. Lucy gave a huge sigh.

"Here's your payment! Thanks for the help! You attracted a lot of customers today."

Lucy went back inside with the Manager of the Cafe. The Blonde was exasperated. The Job wasn't as easy as she first thought. _Mira said this job was going to be fun. Why did I even believe her?__._ Shaking her head as she sat down, stretching her aching body and preparing a change of clothes. A bell rang as the door of the cafe opened.

"Oh, hey miss, can you get the last customer for me, please?" the manager pleaded.

"Sure. No sweat."

Lucy pranced towards the dining hall as instructed by the manager. She saw the customer sitting down, his chin resting on the table. As the distance between her and the customer slowly dwindle, the blonde noticed he had a very familiar spiky rose-hair and a scaly white scarf.

"N-N-Natsu! W-What are you doing here?" The blonde stuttered; shocked as she pointed at her friend, guild mate and partner.

"Huh? Lucy. I was looking for you..And what are you wearing?"

"Wah! No, don't look!" Lucy tried to get away from him to no avail. The Dragon Slayer managed to get a hold of the Celestial Spirit Mage's hand as he dragged her in a corner. He held her down with a tight grip as Natsu, with a completely serious face, stared deep into her eyes. She felt passion and warmth within those eyes and she couldn't help but stutter.

"P-Please Natsu. No. I-I..You're staring too much." Her face turned beet red. She could feel his breath on her skin. _What the heck has gotten into him?_

"Why didn't you say anything to me?" The rose-haired mage asked, keeping his reaction straight.

"I just didn't want you to see me work like this and.. Hey! I don't have to explain anything to you! You're not my boyfriend!"

Lucy surprised herself with that last statement she said to Natsu. She felt so embarrassed that she wanted to vanish into thin air at that moment. The blonde thought about pushing him away, if she could that is, but before she even thought of moving, he responded and released his tight grip on the struggling Mage.

"Yeah. You're right." Natsu quickly let her off, turned his back against her and left without saying a word or even looking back.

"Natsu..I didn't mean.."

"He's just got a bit worried, you know." The Blue Exceed whispered as he jumped on Lucy's back. "He's being strange these past few days so please don't be too harsh on him."

"What do you mean, Happy?"

"I don't know why Natsu gets extra sensitive when his flame turns.." Happy quickly shuts his mouth with his paws and flew away from Lucy. "Uhm, never mind. I'll go after Natsu now. By the way, your outfit is so lame, Lucy." The exceed cracked up from his insult.

"Oh, shut up you damn cat!" She shouted as she watched the exceed took off to where Natsu went. "Wait, what did he say about Natsu's flame?"

Lucy was left flabbergasted as she fell on the ground taking in what just happened. She couldn't process in her mind what the Dragon Slayer did.

"Sigh. Worrying about me and being serious all of a sudden. Why do you always find a way to make me feel like this? ..Stupid Natsu."

* * *

The Dragon Slayer and his Exceed companion traveled to a nearby waterfall up in the mountains. Happy kept on bothering Natsu about fish and how lovely it is. It made him remember about the plush toy.

"Hey, wanna go back to Lucy's later? You two can talk about stuff while I give Mr. Octopus a hug."

"Not gonna happen."

"But Natsu.."

"I said no." he stated, crossing his arms in front of him and tried to avoid Happy's blabbering and just forget whatever happened that day.

They arrived to the said waterfall before sunset. Happy was constructing a makeshift fishing rod to fish with at the river while Natsu leaped over to a huge rock just underneath where the water is crashing down and sat there unusually still. It was all silent and calm until the Rose-haired Mage began trembling violently.

"N-Natsu?!" _Natsu's being weird again._

"Go Happy! Just go!"

"Aye sir!" Happy flew away from him knowingly. Natsu's condition is acting up. The reason he was being awkward is happening. His blood is boiling to the point where he couldn't control the fire he was spewing out from his body.

A few moments after, a huge blast of bright light characterized with a loud roar emerged from a mountain noticeable even from distances away. It was exactly where Natsu was. The waterfall site was a covered by steam with a silhouette of a person burning appeared within it. As the mist subsided and everything almost went clear, the figure could finally be identified. There stood Natsu, in the middle of the now empty hole where the water was. He was shrouded with bouncing flames that glowed...Pink?!

* * *

End of Chapter 1

* * *

My first attempt at this. I have a little knowledge about FanFics, so to anyone who actually read this, Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2: Encounter

"Lu-chaaaaan!" Levy jumped Lucy from behind when she entered the Fairy Tail guild house. Because of their significant height difference, the Solid Script Mage unintentionally groped the Blonde's..chest area, getting the men to spit our their drink and nearly choke. It was a usual thing in Fairy Tail nowadays.

Lucy just came back from a _special_ job in Onibus where she had an unexpected encounter with Natsu. She wasn't exactly feeling sublime at that point but she was happy that Levy was there to greet her.

"Hey Levy-chan, wait! My..!" Lucy nearly got toppled by the over-excited Levy either with the impact of the hug or the effort to avoid embarrassment by getting her assets squished, but luckily she managed to lean over to the guild's door to support both their weight. The Blue-haired mage is one of Lucy's closest friend in Fairy Tail and she's the only one Lucy could talk with about her secret passion like writing novels and boys.

"I missed you so much!" the Solid script Mage squealed while tightening her hug.

"I was only out for two days." Lucy replied with a skeptical look.

"Two long days! Don't you miss me, too?"

"Of course I missed you."

"Awww Lu-chan!"

Lucy wasn't exactly the kind of person who would show other people what she felt inside. She's the type who would pent up her feelings inside so nobody else would be worried. She saw her guild mates smiling and staying positive at the face of adversity. From that, she knew she had to smile, too. She learned that the moment she joined the guild; from the person who saved her life countless times, who was there for her every time she needed help, and the one who brought her to the wonderful world of Fairy Tail. She learned the meaning of love from him..from Natsu.

_Natsu, huh? Wah, I'm thinking about him again?! Well, why wouldn't I after.. wait, that's not the point! I just didn't want him to see what I was doing. Yeah, that's it. Besides, he was acting all weird and stuff. Why were you like that? Natsu..Natsu? Natsu!_

"Oh no, I forgot. I have to apologize to that idiot!" She quickly looked around her, hoping for any sign of the Dragon Slayer.

"Lu-chan? Is there a problem?"

"Uhh, s-sorry Levy. I have to go somewhere now. Catch ya Later!" Lucy dashed out the door, even tripping over and falling face first on the floor. Levy was left confused looking at the blushing Blonde scrambling on her way out.

"I wonder what's wrong with her?"

"Oh, didn't you hear?" A gentle voice cuts her thoughts. A White-haired Mage appeared behind her sporting the sweetest smile.

"Hear about what, Mira?"

"Natsu came by yesterday looking awfully worried. He asked me Lucy's whereabouts and went off racing after I told him. It was pretty cute."

"He did?! Oh my golly." Levy couldn't believe it herself, blushing slightly but she's happy for her friend.

* * *

"Natsu, I wanna see it again." Happy and Natsu came back to their house after the incident at the waterfall. The Exceed found his Dragon Slayer friend running rampantly and desperately trying to avoid getting detected by anyone.

"No way I'm coming out like this. It's embarrassing!"

"But it's just.."

"No buts!"

The blue cat tried to hold his cackling so he could convince him to got outside. "C'mon. You don't look girly at all. I promise I won't laugh at you." Happy said, slipping a giggle.

"Sigh. Alright." The door creaked as the Rose-haired Mage slowly came out, his fire still uncontrollably burning bright Pink. Happy bursts into laughter at the sight of his friend.

"Hey! You said you won't laugh!"

"But. But. But you look so pretty, Natsu." He snorted.

"Shut up. I'm not going until **this** disappears. You better not tell anyone about me." The Dragon slayer slammed the door shut and placed a sign outside saying _DONUT DEESTURB!_.

"Jeez. He gets too sensitive sometimes. Anyways, it's time to go to Mr. Octopus. I'll be back soon!" The Exceed flew away from their house, hopeful to spend more time with the plush toy he's been obsessing about.

A little farther away was an enervated Blonde wandering around. Lucy was retracing her steps, trying to remember the location of Natsu's place. She recalled the time she followed him and Happy so she could get them back for always crashing at her place. But this time, she's visiting with a different intent. After exploring for a while, she just managed to spot a wooden sign marked _"__Natsu &_ _Happy" _near a house on top of a low hill. The Celestial spirit Mage braced herself to face Natsu once again after everything that has happened between them but she still found herself jittering.

_Get a grip Lucy! You can do this. You just have to say sorry for the mean things you said and you're out of here._

Lucy inched closer to the house when she read Natsu's sign. "For real? What was he thinking?" A little grin formed on her face. She gained a little confidence after humoring herself with his horrible writing ability.

*knock knock*

"Natsu, I-I know you're..mad but, m-mind if we talk?" Her face slightly flushed. The blonde gave herself a face-palm for stuttering.

He became alarmed hearing the voice from the other side of the door. _It's Lucy! It's Lucy!_ He got flustered and actually thought about opening the door for her when he realized something. _Oh crap! I forgot.._

*knock knock*

"Natsu?"

"..."

"He's not there? The sign says otherwise though. Maybe he just went out for a bit."

Natsu literally begged the gods for her to leave. As much as he wanted to pounce on her and do lewd stuff, the Rose-haired Mage still couldn't bare letting her see him in his current situation. He expected her to just go away if it seemed that he is not at home and won't be returning soon.

"Guess I'll wait then. I promised someone I would tell him no matter what." She sat down determined as ever. She's willing to wait patiently for the Dragon Slayer to come back but the Blonde has no clue that the person she's waiting for was just behind the door.

He was dumbfounded. His heart was beating faster than a galloping horse. Natsu wanted to see her again so bad. He craved for her scent, her voice, her porcelain white skin . He needs Lucy. This also confused the Dragon Slayer even further as he never considered accepting this feeling before. Natsu thought about it over and over and just as he figured out that he should just show his..unusual predicament, Lucy sprung up and shouted with startled voice.

"Wait! I haven't taken a bath yet! Gotta get home fast!" Lucy ran off hastily.

The Dragon Slayer felt his chest throb when Lucy left. He was a little disappointed. Just as he mustered up the courage to show her, he fell short. But even so, he was pleased to know that she bothered to come all the way to his house for them to talk. He also gets to keep his _secret_ for a little while longer and try to figure out what to do before he explodes again.

* * *

_Ugh. How could I be so careless? Running into trees. Getting my hair stuck on a branch. Heck, even falling off the edge of the canal which never ever happened before. This is ridiculous! Thank goodness I'm ho-_

"Happy! What the heck do you think you're doing?!"

Lucy found her bedroom in a complete wreck. She also discovered the culprit rolling on the floor ferociously hugging her octopus plush doll that he is infatuated with. The Blue Exceed was going total berserk, devastating the whole house.

"What happened to my house, Happy?! Happy! Why you.." The blonde had enough of it. She fired her infamous _Lucy kick_ and snapped the crazed cat out of it.

"Oww! Hey! What's the big ide..oh, it's just you, Lucy." Happy scratched his head as the kick broke him from his Catatonic-like behavior.

"What do you mean by that?! And why are you even here?"

"Nothing. I was looking all over the place for Mr. Octopus. I searched the bathroom ten times but he was under a pillow the whole time. Come to think of it, I don't like octopus anymore. Fish is a lot better. Sorry for messing up your room, Lucy."

"Alright. I will forgive you this time, but in exchange, you answer my questions. Where is Natsu? And why isn't he with you? Do you know what's happening to him?" The Blonde asked with worry written all over her face. She wouldn't want to admit it but she does care for the Rose-haired Mage.

The Cat fell silent. He struggled to even face Lucy thinking that he would betray his friend if he told her about the Dragon slayer's condition. But Happy also thought that if anyone can help Natsu, it's Lucy.

"O-okay, I'll tell you. But you didn't hear this from me. Natsu would cut off my fish budget if he knew I told you."

* * *

"Oh man! What now? What now? What now? It won't disappear! I can't wait another day like this again."

The Dragon slayer anguished over what to do about his condition. It has been almost a whole day after his Pink fire came back. He couldn't go outside fearing someone might spot him. _Maybe I **should** tell someone about this._

*knock knock knock*

"Natsu, It's me Lucy."

"..." _Again?_

"I know you're in there! Open up."

"..." _Dammit!_

"Stop being so stubborn. Jeez!"

"Go away!" He blatantly demanded, turning away from the door to slump back in his seat.

"I just want to help you, baka! Is it so bad to be worried about you?"

"Eh? Did you just say 'help' me?" Natsu's eyes widened. He felt his heart getting shot. _She found out?! How?_

_..._

It was quiet all of a sudden. _I forgot. I wasn't suppose to tell him that I know._ She was concerned, thinking that she might have possibly broken Natsu and Happy's friendship. But Celestial spirit Mage didn't expect what she was about see. The door slightly opened. Natsu peeked through the narrow opening with a face as distressed as hers.

"Don't laugh, okay?"

Confused and a little bit glad, "Sure. You can count on me!" she enthusiastically replied. Lucy felt ecstatic to know Natsu isn't mad at her at all. Deep down, she was breathing a sigh of relief.

He hesitated to fully open the door; even got tempted to shut it on Lucy's face, but an unknown force somewhat made him want to let her in.

The door completely opened wide. He carefully walked in her field of vision. Natsu's appearance left the Celestial Spirit Mage dumbstruck as the only word that came out of her mouth was "Wow." The Blonde attempted to reach her hand out to the Fiery Mage but she abandoned the idea thinking it was fire after all.

"Natsu... Why the hell are you burning pink?!" Lucy couldn't possibly hold her laughter for long as she chortled and laughed at him.

"Like I would know." _Yep. She laughed at me._

"Elfman would be so disappointed in you if he saw this. So unmanly." She snickered.

"Sh-shaddup. You're just making fun of me. I'm not gonna talk to you." The annoyed Dragon Slayer closed the door on her while muttering random words.

"I was only kidding, Natsu. I really want to help. Please?"

"Fine. Come inside. But keep your distance."

* * *

Natsu explained the whole situation to Lucy. He told her that it happened about 5 days ago. He felt a slight tingling on his chest followed by a different kind of _heat_ as his blood was boiling like magma in a volcano. Then it just happened; his fire erupted like crazy and he would blackout afterwards. When he woke up, it was a complete mess. But the strangest thing was, the fire never stopped burning. Instead, it glowed pink. It eventually faded 2 days after but it happened again.

"T-that's serious. But why isn't your flame burning anything?"

"..."

"Can I touch it?" Lucy was curious as to what would happen if she does. Not like she wasn't expecting much and thought it would just feel like air until she watched Natsu rapidly move away panicking in horror.

"No, stop! Don't come near me, idiot!"

"And why not?" She crossed her arms and pouted at the Dragon Slayer.

"I-I just don't want anything to happen to you, okay? I wouldn't know what to do."

The Celestial Spirit Mage was not just merely stunned, but more like captivated. She was screaming inside like a little fan girl. Lucy was still having an afterimage of Natsu declaring those words without faltering. _He could be..cute, too?_

"I'm happy you said that, Natsu." She admitted; her face scarlet. Lucy was fidgeting, playing with her thumbs restlessly. She couldn't look at him. She didn't realize right away that Natsu would be in an agonizing pain. He clinched his chest while curling up, shivering and turning pale.

"L-Lucy. M-my body is.."

"Huh? Natsu? Natsu, what's wrong?!" She cringed.

The Rose-haired Mage collapsed right in front of Lucy. He could hear a faint voice calling out his name over and over before darkness completely filled his consciousness. He dropped out cold.

* * *

_Groan. Where am I? Is it over? I feel something warm and nice._

Natsu found himself on the floor. He searched for any wounds or bruises but he didn't find any. He also noticed that the Flame had disappeared and he was glad it did. Still left the Dragon Slayer curious on what he was lying down on.

He turned to his side and found a sleeping Lucy. Natsu's head was on her lap the whole time. Feeling groggy, he tried to get up without bothering the snoozing Blonde when a hand tapped his forehead, getting him to lie back on Lucy's warm laps.

"You shouldn't get up yet."

Natsu tilted his head and saw Lucy smiling at him; her hand softly stroking his Hair. He was almost put in a trance. Each stroke of her gentle fingers enticed him but the Dragon Slayer still couldn't feel at ease.

"The..fire..did you..touch it?"

"No. After you fainted, the flame died. Don't worry. Just get some rest, Natsu."

"But I should worry. To be honest, I'm scared..for you. It was unbearable for me to not see you for days and I don't know how much more I can control myself with you around me like this. It's like a curse, Luce."

...

"Happy was exposed to the fire one night. I thought he was fine the next morning after, but he acted differently. He would go bananas over your.."

"My octopus doll."

Natsu was in disbelief that she knew about Happy's addiction. "H-how did you know?" The baffled Mage asked.

"You said it was five days ago, right?!"

He nodded. "Yeah. Why, is something wrong?"

"Err. Nothing at all hahaha" _I knew it was too much of a coincidence. The reason why Natsu is like this.. __It was her! It was her all along._

* * *

Hi there! This is the writer speaking(typing). Uhm, I honestly want to thank you guys for reading my story and even leaving a few reviews. I'm flattered. I didn't expect much out of this story as it just played around in my head for the longest time so I hope you won't get disappointed with whatever I put in it.

P.S. Natsu was originally planned to be..androgynous. But I thought it would be too much work detailing and our Natsu would be mostly out-of-character. It would be fun if he was though, right? hmmm what if..


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